Godly Glory

Watching sports isn't really my thing, but when I play,
sports teach me so much about God.

And I learned more about being a pastor
from coaching kids than six years of seminary.

So our congregation has a motto: 'Church is a Team Sport.'
We do things together, working for a common goal.

Like sports, being part of Jesus' team
strengthens us as we practice and exercise,
empowers us to do more than we can alone,
follows the guidance of our coach (God)
and is fun.

If you don't enjoy Church, you may not be familiar with
the Church created by Jesus, a guy who named his
best friends 'Rock' and 'Sons of Thunder.'

I'm not a big sports junkie. (Like I don't talk about weather.)
My main focus is God.

God is my goal, what I want most in life.
But I'm not perfect.

So I used to read the word 'GODLY' and cringe.
It felt like watching Olympic athletes do floor exercises.

'It can be done... just not by me. '

Finally, I looked up the word and was surprised.
Godly doesn't mean good or perfect at all.
Godly simply means 'God-focused.'

What draws your attention. And directs your aim.

What are you shooting for? What are you striving for?
Are you driven to money or power?
Do you want to be attractive or liked?
Do you work out to be strong or live long?
Are you seeking thrills?

All that evaporates over time. You'll need more.

What are people around you really about?
You may know them better than they know themselves.
And they may know you, too.
So, ask someone. See what they say.
You may be surprised.

King David (an exceptional athlete and team captain) said,
'Let everyone who is godly pray to you.'

To be 'GODLY', you don't have to be great or even good.

You just have to pray,
to focus on God,
to involve God,
to follow God.

David's playbook for becoming Godly is Psalms.
This particular play ('Pray!') is from Psalm 32:

"Blessed is one whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered... and not counted against him.'

A great thing about sports is how sins are forgiven.
The metaphor breaks down, of course, but
yes, you have to pay the penalty or may go to the box,
but fouls do not follow you every game.

They don't even go beyond one play.

We teach kids in sports to get up when you mess up.
And you will mess up!

'Let it go and get back in the game.'
I say, 'Like water off the back of a duck.'
Batman's dad said, 'We fall down to learn how to get up.'
A Japanese proverb goes, 'Fall down 7 times. Get up 8.'

Being a Christian, a part of Jesus' team,
is not about perfection but practice.

Friday night football used to begin with prayer.
Everything we do should still start with prayer.

Because ultimately it's not about our glory.
It's about God's glory.

Being Godly is about focusing on God's glory, not ours.

There may be no 'I' in TEAM, but 'UR' part of CHURCH.
And the Apostle Paul says the Church shows God's Glory.

We don't produce this Glory with jazzy ESPN clips
or multi-million-dollar contracts. God already has it.

God's glory is greater than winning the gold or a super bowl,
clinching a series or getting a hole in one.

When I go to Neyland Stadium for UT football
and see 100,000 bright orange Volunteers...
or watch thumping ESPN clips of best plays...
or have an amazing comeback on a critical score...

WE glimpse glory and realize God's is so much more.

And it's going on around us all the time.
The Church's job is to be His team on earth
to reveal this glory to 'all the powers in heaven.'

This amazing revelation is in Ephesians 3:10.
Paul goes on to say God's POWER is at work in us
to do more than we can ever ask or even imagine. (v. 20)

It's not up to us. It's not about us. It's not because of us.

All we do is join Jesus' team.
We put on a jersey accepting Christ as Lord and being baptized.
We get on the field, training to use the God gifts in our position.
We score by focusing on the goal... simply looking to God.

And when we fail, we pray God will forgive us.
Then we get right back up and play on
with all our hearts.

The Early Bird

... gets the worm. But how does the worm feel?

Yesterday, a beautiful blue jay swooped onto our walk.
I didn't see the worm, and it certainly didn't see the bird!

But there he was, flying off as a big juicy meal.

I thought of this as we did a chapel service at our nursing home.

For this new congregation, chapel services are a mobile way
to meet people where they are.

Drinks and shade on a hot day at the fair.
A morning prayer at the train station.
A weekly service at a thrift store.
A kind word at the park.

A burden shared is a burden lightened.
Whatever people need. Wherever they are.

Our motto is...If people don't come to church,
the church will come to the people.

(Church, of course, is the people, not a building or place!)
So we've got a few locations around the area for 'chapel.'

And as I led a prayer workshop at the nursing home,
I thought of this little, unfortunate worm.

It's like us. We can feel like a little worm.
Not just people strapped to a wheel chair in a nursing home,
but I meet people everyday who feel stressed out
and overwhelmed by the big world around them.

So, in this workshop, we talked about Jesus' on the cross.
He quoted Psalm 22 (reading a Psalm is a good way to pray!)
which says, "I'm a worm and no man."

It's the prayer that begins, 'My God, my God!
Why have you completely abandoned me?'

Jesus said this. Jesus was the little worm.
So, it's definitely ok for us to pray that way, too.

Sometimes people ask me, 'I never complain to God.
How can I pray when I'm mad or disappointed or hurt?'

I think they just did.

Just saying to God what you think and how your feel
is ALWAYS a good step in prayer.

But the second step in Psalm 22 that Jesus prayed
was a fascinating insight repeated nowhere else.

That 'God lives in our praises.'

Part of prayer is saying exactly what we think is going in,
and the other part is stating what we do know about God.

Recall some time in your life when God has helped you or someone you love.

Remember Psalm 23 (The Lord is my shepherd)
or some othe verse you know that describes God
as being trustworthy, faithful, loving or strong.

It's not just like the worm saying, 'What a great view!'
as the bird whisks it away : )

The truth is, both parts of prayer give us peace.
Realizing we are not alone in our struggles.
That our pain is real... but God is more real.

A mountain climber sliced 5 of his 7 strands of his rope.
He was convinced he was about to fall and die
before his friends could get him another rope.

But as he prayed, reconciling himself to God
and to his death in a few seconds, he relaxed.

And by not panicking, his remaining strands were not cut
on the rock... and in two minutes, he was saved.

Even when your life is literally hanging by a thread,
it is always to early to give up and never too late to pray.

This is a great reminder that prayer is not only good
in a crisis... but as a great way to start every day!
Before the crisis begins!

And then, as they say, the early bird will indeed get the worm.

Eggshells

Ever around people that make you behave? Or feel you should?

I call them 'eggshells.' Proper-parlor people.
But I don't walk on eggshells.

I'm more an omlete than hard-boiled type.
You gotta break a few now and then.

But some people don't.

Many people say those types are dull, straight-laced Christans,
but I find them inside and outside the Church.

Lots of do's and don'ts. Buckle up and recycle folks.
Save the wrappers... save the planet.

They say things with a straight face like,
'The insurance company won't let me do that.'

How easily some applecarts are upset.
Heaven help us; we might lose everything
... or anything.

But real church people say, 'Yeah. So what? It's all God's.'

A friend today referred to 'churched people' (positively)
as people who behave.

But did Jesus? Ever?

What does being proper have to do with looking for Jesus
in the face of strangers?

We don't even talk to strangers.
We certainly don't let our children.
(And so we never teach them how to make
strangers into friends when they go out on their own.)

Playing it safe makes a world full of strangers
and makes our world stranger every day.

What does walking on eggshells have to do with chasing
the Wind Blowing, Fire Breathing, Water Walking, Living God?

To me, God is a person who never leaves well enough alone.
Always stirring things up. Always doing something new.
Always jumping out of a perfectly good boat.

If that doesn't sound like any church you know,
maybe you don't know the real Church.

... at least the faith community God's forming here.

Yeah, we need a lot of people who keep things tidy.
But some of those are braver than you think.

Perhaps behind the mind-your-manners, mild-mannered
'behaves' are B-HAVs... big, hairy audacious visions.

Perhaps they know something others only suspect,
that right in front of our frightened eyes is an vision,
largely unseen, of what God will do.

The Resurrection One. Waiting to turn every dead seed,
into a towering oak.

Who'd a thunk it?

An amazingly greater Divine Potential Opportunity in
every moment wants to break through our eggshell lives.

Fragile. Safe. Thin. Crumbly.

So strong we act like we've got it all figured out.
So weak we can't be called an unfair name.
Don't talk to me that way. I might break!
At least I'll break away from you.

So we're left with an isolated society of self-serving,
never-sacrificing, small-minded, myoptic mini-me's.

Perhaps real 'churched people' are the ones who see that.

They grin impishly like they could walk on water.
I recognize people who're alive in Christ
They're different.

They're not afraid to die.
More importantly... they're not afraid to live.

We forgot that from Jesus' death for 300 years
that's what it meant to be Church... a target for death.

To be part of Christ's church was to have everything taken
(or given freely)... just because you belong to God.

Today the Barnabas Fund prays for Christians in Egypt,
Church People who are not allowed to pray together.
Not allowed to work. Not allowed to marry.
Not allowed to move.

We should pray for them. Pray they'll be free.
But we should also thank God for what they see,
a vision of a life worth dying for.

Some want church people to just behave.
To walk on eggshells and act like they're 'safe' or 'saved.'

Saved for what? A rainy day?
Church people are rain makers!
They let God make every day what it can be.

I don't want to be safe. I want to run the bases.
I don't want to be 'saved.' I want to swim the tides.

Church people suspect... that with Jesus we can.
The 'hidden church' knows that's what we do.

I googled 'hidden church' and was pleasantly surprised
to find a friend's blog
thefeatherblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/tillich-and-church.html

Charles and I agree that Tillich's Small, Averse Vision of church
as a SAVed community organization for an eggshell world is not
the hidden treasure God planted to grow out of bounds.

Charles and I often don't agree, but we less often conform.
And it was that egg-breaker St. Paul who said,

'Offer your bodies as living sacrifices to God.
Don't conform to the culture of this world.
But be transformed by renewed minds.
Then you can test and prove what is
the good and acceptable and perfect
will of God.'

Romans 12 sounds NOTHING like
play it safe... behave... go along... act like you're fine.

Only when you've offered your whole little life,
not as a sacrifice that lays down and dies,
but as a sacrifice that gets up and lives;

Only when you hear God's unbelievable words
(which 'incredible' means) and have your mind changed
can you have an inkling of what's 'good and acceptable.'

Proper eggshell-heads think they know.
But here's a hint: it's not your IRA.

We can know. But only when we break out
and lay it all on the line and stretch our wings,
can we test how high God wants us to fly.

Life is not a dinner party where God's serving hors d'oeuvres
and when he comes around with the silver platter we say,
'No thanks, G. I'm stuffed. But how bout some nice Chardonnay.'

God pushes back tables to make room for us to dance!

Church people are often criticized as being hypocrites
for striving for a standard higher than we can reach.
That is a problem if we pretend we can do it alone
or are somehow better than anyone else.

But Jesus says, 'If you want to cower and bury your gifts
and act like you've got it all together and are fine like you are
(which is what a 'hypocrite' literally mean, a 'super-actor')
then you're a stuffed-shirt, stuffed bird...
and don't have the guts to hang with me.'

Whether you're a tough biker or a smart lawyer
(and around here we have both, often in one person),
if you don't have the courage to jump out of the boat
(no matter how nice it is) and walk on water with Jesus,
I wouldn't say that you're weak and dumb,
but you're definitely missing out.

Because one day you will die.
In fact, you're dying right now.
And only Jesus can let you stop dying and finally live.

For church people, eternity begins today.

Because we're following the Resurrected Jesus who
doesn't edge along the shore or walk on eggshells.

But walks on the waves.

Trying Patience

Before kids, we'd eat anytime we wanted.
Anything we wanted. And we'd skip meals.

Now... kids don't just eat every day,
they need regular meals.

And they need healthy, balanced nutrition.
Oh, my!

It seems every moment of our 'free time' is spent
preparing, consuming or being interrupted by meals.

And that tries my patience!

But, of course, it's better to limit my schedule
and see our kids grow into all they can be.

If I let them (and myself!) just eat and do
what they want... we'd never reach our potential.

So it is with starting a new congregation.

We intentionally seek to partner with others.
Our motto is: We're Better Together.

And we're going to pursue that vision.
Even if it takes a little longer.

But many people tell us to focus on ourselves.
They want to see results...
'Get your members. Get your numbers.'

But if we start this congregation focusing on ourselves,
we'll never grow into a congregation that focuses on others.

Our relationships with neighbors and partners,
even those that never think they can 'help' us
must be fed and nourished.

Even if we'd rather just 'get on' with our own agenda.
Even if they'd rather we just 'get on' with our own stuff!

As we develop relationships, we're hopefully modelling
the kind of bloom-where-you're-planted creative mission
we hope our future congregation will embody.

So, we take the time to get to know other churches.
We take the time to find out their passions and gifts.
Not to use those gifts for ourselves but to see them succeed!

My goal is not to discover how they can meet 'our needs'
but what they most enjoy so we can help them to achieve.

Or at least cheer them on.
I want to be proud of my brothers and sisters in Christ!

Because we really are better together.

If we start this new congregation by only focusing on ourselves,
we will create yet another church primarily focused on itself.

Frankly, there are too many of our congregations
that ignore Jesus' clear command that we must
die to ourselves to give birth to our true seeds.

People tell me to wait until we're set to try cooperation.
But the time to cooperate is from the very beginning.

When we intentionally support another group's dreams,
many people ask me, 'What's in it for you?'

The answer is both 'nothing' and 'everything.'

By living out self-giving partnerships, we gain much.
It is our mission to support the mission of others.

That's the self-giving love Jesus demonstrates,
and it's the kind of mission -- from Day 1 --
that Jesus asks us to do here today.

God knows we need to gather people and find a place
to develop partnerships and create our own programs.
But our mission is to demonstrate loving support
among God's family... including other denominations.

That's why I spend so much time learning about the
Episcopals and Catholics, Baptists and Charismatics,
Pentecostals and Independents... and, yes, even
the Missouri Synod Lutherans!

Not to duplicate their work. Quite the opposite.
I don't want to do what they are doing but to
do what they are not doing.

But I want to encourage them to fulfill their dreams.
Every part of Christ's body has an important role to fill!

Encouraging those gifts in others is all this
little new congregation in rural Cecil County can do.

But it is a gift we give gladly!

Even if waiting to understand our neighbors
and to support our partners
and to wait on our friends
takes a little longer or
goes a little slower

... and tries my patience!

We will try patience.

And we will grow together : )

The Big Move

Well, it's here!

Natalie has packed the whole house.
We washed the windows and deck.
Sally's crew loaded up her truck.
Davo and Sarah got the keys.

It's official. We're moving to Maryland.

What do I think? Well, mixed.
There is nothing good about leaving Chicago.

There's plenty good about going to Maryland
and about staring a new congregation.

But there's nothing good about leaving my new home.

In the past, whenever, I'd get stressted, I'd imagine I'm
biking along the streets and alleys of my boyhood home
in Paris, Tennessee. I knew every building and turn.

Those familiar images comforted and calmed me.

Paris is still my hometown, but I was surprised to find
recently as I returned from a few weeks in Maryland
that Chicago is now my home. It's where I 'belong.'

It just feels like home.

I love the city and it's history, it's impulses and politics,
it's diversity and directness. This is my place of rest.

And I'm leaving... if not for good.

So what does themove bring?

Well, I never in my wildest dreams thought the church
would call me to start a new congregation.

I was totally unprepared and delved into what I call
Seminary II... learning everything I could about
launching a new community of new Christians.

We're not hoping that believers will join. But doubters.
We're not looking for religious people. But rebels.
We're not planning to repeat the past. But watch God
paint the future.

And we're not prepared. But we are completely ready
to take this leap of faith!

Too Tired

I'm beat but want to list some miracles from today.

Woke up late for an appointment. Local Episcopal Carmelite
(basically a prioress who lives in a nunnery focusing on prayer)
had a morning mass, but I clearly felt God saying not to go.

That's unusal for me. I don't get a strong sense of God's will.
But I *clearly* felt that I should stay home a pray a little.

By the time I arrived, it was well after time to start, but
Sister Teresa met me in the driveway. They had been delayed.

Then she let me read the scripture... of Abram and Lot
splitting up. Abram told Lot to go wherever he wanted,
and he would take the opposite place.

This touched me as I'm looking at places to start the
new congregation... and we're limited by 'neighboring'
congregations that don't want us to go into certain areas.
I was starting to feel defensive about this, but the
story of Abram reminded me to go along and get along.

Turn the other cheek. Go the extra mile.

And we had some answers to prayers this week.

I prayed for help meeting motorcylists... we have a lot here.
And this week I met a couple who does motorcylce ministry.

I prayed for someone with whom I could discuss the
complicated details of developing the new congregation.
And then I met a church consultant who thinks like me
(though we don't always disagree) about church systems.

I prayed for the beginning of a group of men with whom
I could learn to train them to train others to be disciples.
And then I met a man who agreed to start that with me.

And finally, the Carmelite Prioress told me to come back
for tomorrow's St. John the Baptist festival mass.

John is my favorite person in the Bible, and I would love
to name the new congregation after this great prophet.

I dutifully followed her advice, and not only was it easy
to re-arrange four people's schedules to make the change,
the new schedule actually seemed to work better for everyone.

And God answered a big prayer for guidance as I met today
with three pastors of potential partner churches.

I can't put into words -- especially this tired! -- to express how
God's Spirit seems to be guiding and blessing even my mistakes : )

A Day in the Life

People ask what a normal day is in the field. Thankfully,
there is no normal!

Last week, I travelled and stayed with four different families.

Mostly, I stay with a wonderful family here in Cecil County.
They let me live in the in-law apartment that they built to
care for Grandma... and they've let many others stay here, too.

Giving and receiving hospitality, I'm finding, is the best way
to really get to know each other.

And that's the primary goal of a new mission!

I love plans.
Churches love programs, but
God wants us to love people.

Build relationships and all the other things fall into place.

So, when I'm not 'sleeping around' : ) what does a new pastor do?

Opening the little red calendar book...

Sunday
8:30am - out the door!
attend 9 & 11 am services with nearby Lutherans
- enjoyed worship, met people and made contacts
lunch (exploring new area!)
- on phone with potential staff person
- worked on marketing (name and pens)
visit
- Korean pastor's home
- Episcopal pastor's home
Homeless Shelter with our scaffolding Band Leader
- heard her band and met her friends
- (preacher was Amazing!... made appt for coffee)
- witnessed several people accept Jesus as Lord
- prayed together
- we were ALL richly blessed by each other!
Restaurant with Band and friends
- couple with TOO COOL story bought me dinner : )
- talked for hours!
Home by midnight
Talked with Nat
- we chose a web name and secured the addresses
- we whispered sweet nothings
2:30 am - Crashed!

Monday
Army Post (Aberdeen Proving Ground)
- guest of a man I met at the Lutheran church Sunday
- saw his work, heard wise counsel, met his wife and friends
Base Chapel
- met command chaplain (an ELCA pastor!)
- set appointment in July to talk
Drove around to see different areas and an 'old' new mission start
2 appts re-scheduled
Lunch at home (salad and left-overs from last night's dinner : )
Phone calls to schedule appts/check-in with potential partners
Paperwork for ELCA home office
- they changed my flight so I can surprise Nat and the kids!
(hope they don't read this : )
Meet area Lutheran pastor
Help with a local VBS (Bible School)
Home and bed by 10?

You get the drift.

Just floating around learning, listening and loving every minute of it!
(except the paperwork for churchwide : )

House in Order

What's surprised me most, and it shouldn't have, is that
in the first steps of forming this new congregation,
God has done more IN me than WITH me.

For example, when I went to the Church Plant training
before ordination, I expected some flattery, a little pump up.
I mean it takes special talent to start from scratch, right?

Wrong.

It takes a person who realizes he can do nothing without God
to gather people who are living their own lives.

So, the first speaker (Rick Warren) said he woke at 2am
and completely scrapped the advertised presentation,
'How Great the Church Is.' There were no handouts,
and the volunteers scurried to give out blank paper.
(I learned this is SOP at Saddleback : )

The new topic was 'Temptations that Destroy New Leaders.'

Can God call it or what?!

(Even odder, just a few weeks before I had actually read this
from an archived Rick Warren sermon, the only time I ever
read a sermon text on-line. Was God telling me something?)

After talk of possessions, pride, pleasure and power, I sobbed.
And then I let people be with me during this 'conversion.'

The 'conversion' of a 38-year old pastor may sound odd,
but we all sin. And daily repentance (mind-changing) is what
Martin Luther said is at the heart of following our Lord Jesus.
The 1st of the 95 Theses that changed the world says that
Jesus calls us each day to repent ('to change our minds.')

Plus, how in the world could I lead people to Christ,
if I didn't know what it's like to go through a conversion?!

We can't change the world unless we let God change us.

Another example of God getting my house in order before
letting me organize a new house of God, was money.

All my mentors said money is key to a new church start.
But as I was drafting our new congregation's budget,
God first led me to examine my personal finances.

I listened to hours of CDs on God's Financial Plan:
keep good records, budget, tithe, save and enjoy!

Then Natalie and I got a $2,500 surprise bill and
decided it was time to get our 'house in order.'

We listed all our expenses and made a budget.
We listed all our expected sources of income.
And they added up to the exact same thing.

It may take 10 years, but God provided a way out of debt!
We only have to have the discipline to keep good records
and stick to our budget.

God promises to meet all our needs, not all our greeds.

This was really the second big step for us toward a total
make-over of our approach to money. Last year,
we had been challenged by a friend's example of tithing.

Record-keeping and saving, I think, are next in line.

Again, how could I lead others to tithe and save,
to budget and keep records, to enjoy and be satisfied
with what they have -- if I hadn't gone through this myself?

Yes, it will be hard after 6 years seminary... and no budget.
That student loan money was just too easy to accept!

And yes, it's embarrassing to say I'm not a financial wizard,
but it's better to admit mistakes and fix problems now
than to let pride lead you into hiding them... or from them.

Problems are like mushrooms: they only grow in the dark,
esp. when you throw on a lot of BS manure to cover it up : )

We were both scared by the size of our debts, but we are
overjoyed that God had given us exactly what we need.

Some may say these two experiences disqualify me from ministry.
But being convinced of my own sin and facing a financial mess
actually prepared me better to begin a new ministry.

I experience first-hand what people go through when they
face their own failings and turn their lives to God.

Praise God for letting me be the change I seek!

Play Ball!

So, the dream house was fake, someone posting a prank.
We talked to the agent, and it's definitely not renting.

Disappointing? Yes. It was a cool story. But I had reservations about such a big place and I'm still forever connected with that beautiful sunrise experience.

The question is: it was counterfeit, but is it coincidence?
Perhaps God used this miscreant to keep my attention
on a neighborhood where God is working to meet needs.

And we're so thankful for all the good. We can't overlook
the miracle day series of events (from a power outage to ER).

God turns plays. Every situation, no matter how uncomfortable,
God turns obstacles into opportunities!

No matter what life throws at you, God can turn two...
sort of a divine Ozzie Smith : )

We're in this thing now, suited up and ready to play.
Swing for the fences. Dive for the ball. Run through! Shake it off!
Come what may, we're here to play.

Guess all I ever really needed to know...
I learned in Little League baseball :)

Church is a Team Sport, and what a team we have!

I'm amazed at all the friends we've made in just two weeks.
And getting a rental near Nat's train, central to the region and kids
across the street (7, 8, 14) for Macy (8) and Levin (7) to play with.

Nat and I are thrilled to have two incomes (first time in 8 years!)
in work that's challenging and fun. We can finally pay off debts!

So being fooled is neither embarrassing or sad. It's just part of life.
A swing and a miss.

I'm ready to step up to the plate... and Play Ball!

Heads Together

Meeting with area pastors and our bishop went really well.
They identified so many pressure points... key areas of focus.

Nine heads definitely are better than one!

Maybe I'll call such groups 'Hydras'...
informal gatherings group of experts
to advise us in this new mission start
and to bounce around ideas together.

With partners like this, we can slay dragons!

A Place for You

When the church asked me to start a congregation
near Rising Sun, Maryland, I drove over early
to see where we may be called to serve.

How could I lead something that didn't exist?
How could I move to a place I didn't know?
How could I gather people I hadn't met?

Arriving before dawn, I parked at a subdivision entrance
just as the sun started to rise over a golden field next door.

Later I learned that Rising Sun got its name from farmers
who met at sunrise to take their crops to Port Deposit.
Before cell phones, they just met at sunrise to travel
together for safety and joy.

This was the most angelic white light I'd ever seen.
It filled the field in a wash of brilliant brightness I'll not forget.

I turned and saw the subdivision was Bryan's Grace.
I thought, 'God's grace indeed! Maybe this is my place.'

(Later, I told this to a local man who seemed to tear up a bit.
He said it was built on his family's farm that he sold when his
father, Bryan, and mother, Grace, died a few years ago : )

Then I looked right and was in front of a house for sale.
But even as a pre-foreclosure, we couldn't afford it.
When my family came to meet with the Bishop,
we visited this special house again.

We talked with several realtors but no home worked out.
So we looked to rent. But even rental prices here are so high!
Everyone says, 'Prices have come down." But I say, "Not enough!"

Then through a series of events, we found a place to rent.
It was the day of a big storm, and I was looking for a place
for the new congregation to meet, in the old 'Miracle Theatre.'

Turns out, it was the wrong space but the right place.
I met several new friends. During the storm the power went out,
and they invited me in from the lightening and hail.
After a couple hours with the two couples, I felt I'd meet
the kind of people with whom and for whom
we could build a new church family here.

Then as I was leaving, they suggested I call their landlord.

The home I first visited at sunrise was a ridiculous long-shot.
Besides, who needs a mushroom house? (Then I heard it was sold.)

But this landlord did have a rental we could (barely) afford.
So I put in an application for the rental, but due to the storm,
the realtor could not show me the house right then.

Maybe God sends wind, lightening and rain to re-arrange our plans!
Instead, as I was leaving, the realtor's adult child called to say
she was going to an ER miles away. I offered to drive.

Again, right place for a completely unexpected reason.
I had a chance to talk to my new landlord and make a friend : )

On the way to the ER, we passed an obscure little church.
Someone told me about it the night before.
It was a very unusual ministry, and I was intrigued.
So on the way back, I stopped and was blessed by the
example of faith of these pastors and a volunteer.

Again, new friends! I think they all will be important to the
work God is planning to do in this place.

The rest of the day went that way, divine random encounters,
one after another, until I arrived back at the home of a
local Lutheran family who let me stay in their in-law apartment.

Nat and the kids move out in July 1, but I didn't feel at all anxious.
There was definitely a sense of peace.

Then, before going to bed, Natalie called to say that the
rising sun home we'd visited was for rent.

The home that was sold and that we felt was beyond our reach,
was posted on craigslist for less than the rental I just applied for.

Was it too good to be true? We email and prayed.
We trust that God is leading us... but to where we don't know.

One thing we do know... the Holy Spirit has a place for us.
It's not always where, and certainly not why, we think.

But one thing I know for certain...
whether in beautiful, peaceful sunrises or life's fiercest storms,
Jesus is busy behind the curtains...

preparing a place for you and me!

Skipping Stones

By 2pm, I realized I'd skipped breakfast and lunch.
I just kept bouncing from one amazing encounter to another.
By the end of the day, if you asked who I met that morning, I'd say,
'Was that today? It seems like ages ago.'

So much is happening.
My concern is that I'm not managing all the information well.

Perhaps I shouldn't.
The goal of contacts is to begin forging friendships.
But it'd be great to remember later who told me what.
I need to keep records; I need help in setting up good admin!

By the end of the day, after skipping happily over the waters
like a spinning thrown stone, I just collapse in the pond and relax.
Right now, I'm just skimming.

Maybe the joy of encounters and small ripples of first impressions
will sustain me, if not with facts, at least with the fascination
that those I met made a happy little splash in my day : )

And likewise, maybe they will remember me like that feeling
you get when you skip a really good stone... that,
'yeah... that was a good one' memory.

With the peace of only a ripple that remains.

Full Tank

I was running late and out of gas. I felt silly, but I told God that if I didn't hit empty before finding gas in the countryside, I'd add this to our miracle list. Natalie and I had kept that list for months, noting many things that happened (big and small!) as we move to Maryland to birth to a new church.

So many people are praying for us, it feels like we're floating on a mosh pit of hands lifting us up and passing us on.

The whole 'please don't let me run out of gas' prayer seemed odd and minor, but I did it anyway. It seemed right. And I've come to believe that all the little pieces matter. Even disasters can turn into something amazing.

Like this day. I met a lady through an odd series of coincidences. And it so what we needed.
There was a tornado warning. That came at just a right time to form new relationships.
The power went out... and it led to getting to know two people who I think may be our first members... wonderful people who are not part of any church... exactly who we came to gather and encourage as they explore the gifts God's given them! This led to finding a house to rent. And the night went on like that... as I did office hours in the local bar meeting people from the next state over... until I collapsed in joy back at the apartment.

It's so great to be so empty but so full.

I just go with the flow.

Sometimes I rest a soft little eddies. Sometimes God sends me out on the rapids.

Without giving details, I'll just say...
I see how the chroniclers of Jesus who spent so much time with the Miracle Master often only said, 'he went around doing miracles.'

After a while, the details of all God does gets overwhelming.

But God really is at work! And doing great things.

Go with the Flow

One day, our son Levin came back from church and said,
"Every day we go to church, I think, 'I don't want to go.'
Then I get there and have fun. So I guess the point is,
'Go with the Flow.'"

From that point on, Go with the Flow, became our theme.

Jesus described God's own Spirit filling us like a fountain,
that bursts out to overflow like a stream to others.

The first act of obedience we're called to as new Christians
is the simple step of being baptized...
letting the waters and words of God flow over our lives.

This may sound unnecessary or silly... but it's all God asks.

There was a general in the Old Testament who caught leprosy.
He heard a prophet in Israel could heal him but was furious
when the prophet simply said, 'Go dip in this river.'

But his servants suggested it was a simple thing.
And he obeyed and was healed.

Being flexible and fluid, being refreshed and refreshing,
are marks of being a Christian.
But too often we're the opposite.
Too often, we don't 'Go with the Flow.'

'Spirit' means wind or breath.
So that old expression 'Holy Ghost' is literally a 'Holy Gust.'
And God's Spirit blows and flows where it will.

When Jesus tells us to be 'born again, born from above'
('above' and 'again' are the same word in the Greek)
he says we're to be born of Water and of the Spirit.

Why?

Because to be born of Water and the Spirit
is to become like the Water and the Spirit.
... to Go with the Flow.

When we were first born, born from below
we came from water in the womb to take our first breath.
(I often wish people a 'Happy Breath Day' : )

Jesus says we must be born again... in the Flow from above.

When I was serving as a hospital chaplain,
a clear image developed of 'a Flow.'

I quickly learned that in a hospital there's a Flow
(I think) compromised of God's work, the patients' needs
and the dedication and care of the staff and loved ones.
I felt free to step into that Flow and be a part of it...
and step out anytime.

That Flow carried me to encounters I never imagined,
gave me ways of communicating I never knew,
and - most importantly for my sanity -
allowed me to step out of the flow
whenever I needed a break.

I realized the Flow did not depend on me.
Like in a river, the current does not rely on us!

One trap for ministers is to think it does.
Another trap is get hung up in one place.
Such a desire for control will drown you.

When I was little, my canoe overturned.
I became trapped, my chin wedged under a fallen tree.
I would have drowned had my uncle not pushed me free.

Sometimes we need that push to rescue us when we're stuck.
So we can be free again... to Go with the Flow.